Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked about the biggest challenge his team faces after winning the Super Bowl.

Naturally, Harbaugh’s answer was “the Denver Broncos” during a conference call with Denver media Sunday. “All eyes are on the Broncos and their tremendous football team and their really hostile environment,” he said.

The Ravens begin defense of their NFL championship Thursday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where they upset the Broncos 38-35 in double overtime Jan. 12 in a playoff game.

Harbaugh said the NFL’s first game of the 2013 season is a perfect way to continue a burgeoning rivalry.

After meeting Thursday, the Broncos will have played Baltimore three times in a five-game span. Late in the 2012 regular season, they beat the Ravens 34-17 on Dec. 16 in Baltimore.

“If you love good football, you don’t get tired of watching it,” Harbaugh said. “(Broncos coach) John Fox and his coordinators are top-notch. I think they’ve got a great roster. They’ve done a great job of putting the roster together. They play with incredible passion, and it’s one of these budding rivalries. … We’re proud to be part of that.”

Fox and Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning have discussed how both teams have changed since their playoff meeting. Newcomers will be on both sides of the ball, including a swap of standout defensive end Elvis Dumervil, now with the Ravens.

“I’m just really excited to have him on our team,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve respected him all those years in Denver and (for) everything he accomplished there, and he’s been really everything that we’d ever heard about.”

The Broncos will be missing the other half of last season’s dynamic pass rushing duo — Von Miller, who is serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s drug policy.

Dumervil and Miller combined for 29½ sacks in 2012.

“You compete against the guys who are out there and you really don’t think of it,” Harbaugh said. “Von Miller is one of the premier players in football, certainly. But things happen; injuries happen.

Harbaugh knows beating Manning for a second time in Denver will be difficult.

“I think he only gets better with the way he attacks you,” the coach said of Manning, 37. “His understanding of the game and obviously all the things he studies. Boy, (he) sure makes it hard on you.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.